A local group committed to replanting and improving the amenity of the land around the Merri Station in Northcote, Australia in partnership with Keep Australia Beautiful, VicTrack, Metro Trains, Darebin City Council and other statutory, business and community stakeholders.

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24 March, 2014

By now most will be aware of the devastation wreaked on the Indigenous Garden by various Metro works - first in installing a new, additional access pit to underground infrastructure in the middle of the garden bed, and then in undertaking repairs to Platform 1.

awesome

While access by VicTrack and Metro to their own land to undertake maintenance is perfectly acceptable, our plantings left specific, agreed access corridors for maintenance staff to access existing pits and infrastructure, which have been entirely ignored. We question whether the extent of damage inflicted was truly necessary.

As a result, the considerable outputs of community and contract labour, along with grant funding from the City of Darebin, have been all but swept away - we estimate only 20% of our plantings remain intact on this difficult site.

Apologies to everyone who has put in so much hard work on this garden only to see it substantially destroyed. Metro has apologised for the repeated error and will fund the replacement of the plant stock. We have recommended that in future Metro work teams first consult our committee, meet on site and gain assistance in navigating the crew around plantings.